PSIA-AASI Celebrates Emily Lovett’s Educational Excellence as a Cross Country Ski Instructor

Emily Lovett, who recently stepped down from her role after two terms as coach of the PSIA Cross Country Team, was one of the inspirational instructors honored at the annual Awards & Recognition Night at National Academies in Big Sky, Montana, last month.

Emily, along with fellow honoree PSIA-AASI Director of Education Dave Schuiling, received the Educational Excellence Award. The Educational Excellence Award recognizes members who authored or helped develop educational materials or resources related to teaching snowsports or the snowsports industry.

“This award is our award because of all the teamwork we put in together,” Emily told the capacity audience at the Yellowstone Conference Center, acknowledging the dozens of current and former National Team members in the room. “We really are one team. Which is why it’s kind of cool receiving this at the Alpine, Adaptive, Snowboard, and Telemark Academies, because we are you, and you are us, and we did all of this together.”

Instructors and PSIA-AASI members Louise Levy and Lisa Ostermiller, who nominated Emily, share some of the key contributions Emily has made to instruction, which make her so deserving of the honor.

As a driving factor for her nomination, Louise put together a comprehensive list of the educational materials Emily has authored or developed related to snowsports. “Emily has written, co-authored, facilitated, and participated in many resources dedicated to the cross country sector of PSIA,” Louise wrote, including:

  • Strategic Alignment Project: On the development team for the 2022 Cross Country Certification Standards, facilitated the development of the Cross Country Technical Performance Guide, and produced multiple videos that support the new National Standards and Performance Guide.
  • E-Learning courses: Emily was part of the development team with the following courses: Delivering the Beginner Experience, Level I Cross Country, and Level II Cross Country.
  • She contributed to the Teaching Children Snowsports.
  • She produced several webinars, including Cross Country Technical Skills and Certification Overview; Cross Country Technical Discussion; Women’s Summit 2021 – Fitness Gains and Skill Development through XC Skiing; Women’s Summit 2021 – Dynamic Teamwork, Evolving Your Bag of Tricks; Interski2023: Cross Country Indoor Presentation; Interski2023: Cross Country Key Takeaways – Interski2019 and Interski2023; and developed on-snow presentations shared at Interski and with PSIA-AASI membership.
  • For 32 Degrees magazine, Emily wrote and published multiple articles.

In her nomination, Lisa wrote, “Emily has, in my opinion, demonstrated the highest level of educational excellence. I’ve had the honor and privilege to work with Emily as a Cross Country National Task Force member. Together, with the rest of the task force, we’ve been guided by Emily to create materials for the cross country discipline. Emily has also been a part of the strategic alignment process to make the Learning Connection Model a part of our instructor’s way of life! Her boundless energy and passion for the sport of cross country skiing is absolutely infectious! I’ve considered her a mentor, a role model, and a friend since I met her about five years ago. Through Emily’s guidance, we’ve seen the cross country discipline take leaps and bounds within PSIA-AASI.”